General Question

Anyidea why laser pointers used on a fish tank make the fish freak out?

Yeah, random question, but I accidentally left a laser point on while I was pointing it at a screen. The beam happened to intersect a fish tank. When the beam went into the take, the fish freaked. Erratic swimming, fast swimming, etc. Any ideas on what’s going on?

3 Answers

Lots of people with aquariums use laser pointers to play with the fish. The reaction is typically that the fish chase the point of light. Hard to say if they’re trying to snack, or if it’s stimulating their territorial response. Most fish are intensely curious of anything new in their environment, kind of like cats are. No surprise then that both cats and fish love the lasers.